Question.

**penguin pete** · October 3rd, 2002, 07:46 PM

Reading through the various threads in the forum the popular consensus seems to be that the first commercially available 12" single available in the USA was 'Double Exposure - Ten Percent'. I bought this track when it was released in the UK, but the only format available was a 7" pressing (I've since managed to secure a 12" copy).
The first record that I bought whereby I was given a choice of what format I wanted was 'Garnett Mims & the Truckin' Company - What It Is. My question is this, what was the first official commercially available 12" single that was released in the UK?
Any ideas?

**QUINNY** · October 4th, 2002, 02:07 AM

That'a a difficult one to answer. I don't know if anyone's taken the trouble to document it.
Purely from memory, the first one I was sent (cos I was working as a DJ in Spain at the time) was Boney M - Daddy Cool. A complete and utter waste of time as it was 3minutes 40 seconds approx long!
At the time, being the cynic that I am, I wrote to James Hamilton in Record Mirror and stated that 12" were a waste of time (if Boney M's example was anything to go by). I wrote saying that I thought the record companies were merely using them as a marketing ploy to get crap singles into the charts due to the (then) novelty value.
Hope this helps to some extent.
BTW: TEN PERCENT was released on English 12".

**DISCODISK** · October 4th, 2002, 05:44 AM

the first promo 12" i remember was NINE TIMES the moments backed with RIMSHOTS do what you feel that is probibly the rarest u.k disco 12" there is ive never seen one of those for sale since that day, i was lucky to find my copy in a junk shop in 1982 for 10 pence ! commercially i would agree with quinny BONY M but its not that simple as UNDISPUTED TRUTH you + me was released the same week maybee the same day so its a toss up! they indeed were used to hype records into the charts as most only had a 10,000 run with other labels pressing much less contempo and island only doing 1,500 [who can remember the mayhem when hi-tension was released they just sold clean out in seconds and by the end of the week it was selling for £40-60 in the north of england until the u.s copies came in !] and TEN PERCENT was not released in the u.k the first salsoul and this is a really wild guess as im not at home must have been hit and run, another strange fact salsoul never had a u.k. hit in the 70s hard to believe but true !!

**QUINNY** · October 4th, 2002, 08:20 AM

DISCODISK: I beg to differ. Ten Percent was released in the UK on 12". Whether or not it's the A side I can't remember. I have both that one and the US 12" (which as mentioned before in another thread was my very first 12").
You're quite right about the Undisputed Truth 12" which I also have. I had forgotten it was at the same time. You'd think I'd have remembered that rather than BONEY M eh?